A mother-of-two who watched her 11-month-old daughter take her “last gasp of air” before going into cardiac arrest and was told by doctors she “would not make it” has expressed her immense gratitude after her child survived and celebrated her third birthday last year. Abby Hessey, 26, an operations executive who lives in Bicester, Oxfordshire, said she was “preparing for the worst” when her daughter Bella, now three years old, was rushed to Southampton General Hospital, in Hampshire, in an ambulance in 2020.
After Bella went into cardiac arrest, Abby said she watched as approximately 30 medical staff tried to resuscitate her baby, and she was given the devastating news that her daughter might not survive the night. But now, nearly three years later, Bella, who has been described as a “bubbly”, “talkative” and “happy” girl, with “a lot of sass”, is “living a normal life”.
“I had no hope, didn’t think that we would ever make it, didn’t think that I would ever be the same because I thought I was going to lose my baby,” Abby said. “It’s just been a complete 360 life change to be honest… just living a normal life now is amazing compared to what it was going to be.”
